


Keith Will Never Yield During a Fight and It's a Problem: An Essay by His Pack

by moretrash



Series: Dads of Marmora [31]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Acxa & Keith (Voltron) are Twins, Cuddling & Snuggling, Dads of Marmora (Voltron), Just.... protective dads, Like... Keith won't back away from a fight if someone pushes him, Nests, Peer Pressure, Protective Antok, Protective Kolivan, Sparring, Swimming, and mom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-25
Updated: 2018-06-25
Packaged: 2019-05-28 06:02:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15042338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moretrash/pseuds/moretrash
Summary: Keith tries to be friends with two new blade recruits who don't believe that Keith is a kit. It doesn't end well.





	Keith Will Never Yield During a Fight and It's a Problem: An Essay by His Pack

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt:
> 
> "What about if there’s a chapter where Keith meets new Blade members who don’t quite understand why Keith gets the Kit privileges he gets because he seems to fight just as well as everyone else and don’t realize that who Keith’s pack is and try to train with him in one on one combat or train him harder then he wants and gets in trouble"

Within the Blade of Marmora headquarters, the residents separated into packs that varied in size. Despite this, everyone acted like one big pack. They helped each other as much as possible and were very open to affection from others outside of their pack. If one pack had a kit, it became the Blades’ kit, in a way. Everyone would help out when they could to help the family raise the kit healthy and safe, considering that it was a fairly dangerous area, especially for a kit. 

The last person to have a kit in the headquarters was Krolia when she gave birth to Acxa and Keith. Though, she had only brought Acxa back to the blades with her and hadn’t told anyone that Keith had existed. After finding out Keith’s age, many of the blades had been thrown for a loop because of the fact that Keith was so independent, insisting that he didn’t need protecting.

Eventually, the blades had become used to Keith being able to help himself during missions, and that they didn’t need to be so protective of Keith. It had been hard to get used to, considering that Galran kits were dependent on their pack and parents until ages far older than Keith was. Even Acxa, though she was mostly self-sufficient and perfectly capable of taking care of herself, depended on Krolia for certain things. Though, everyone had come to the unspoken agreement that Keith had matured much faster than they were used to due to his human genes. 

In return, Keith had slowly grown used to accepting help and affection from other blades. He became used to blades grabbing things off of high shelves for him or carrying him to a member of his pack when he tired himself out and fell asleep outside of his nest or away from his pack. He became used to blades fretting over him the same way they did over anyone else. He was also getting used to offering his help and it being appreciated every time.

Everyone enjoyed having Keith around. Keith was slightly shy, but he was getting more and more open with everyone. Keith could often be found with a member of his pack, whether it be training with Antok, dozing in Thace’s office, keeping Kolivan company, or helping out with small jobs in the medical bay on busy days, or play fighting with Regris. Everyone understood, of course, being around his pack made Keith feel safe. But it was a big achievement that Keith felt at ease enough to nap out in the open, where anyone could find him, whereas he had been on his guard constantly when he had first arrived. 

-

Keith’s favorite activity recently had been swimming in the pool that he had stumbled upon. Most Galra, though they were capable of swimming, absolutely hated being submerged in water, so the pool was only really for blades who had heritage from aquatic species or blades who just liked to swim. 

Keith had been extremely relieved to find that the pool functioned like any other regular pool, unlike the odd Altean pool that he had to deal with at the castle of lions. His fur, as Keith soon discovered, weighed him down a bit, but he didn’t really mind. 

The other blades who frequented the pool welcomed Keith willingly, and were even willing to play a few pool games when Keith was feeling up to it. They quickly became Keith’s friends, considering that he spent a lot of time in the pool. Regris had hissed and clung to the blankets in the nest when Keith had suggested they both go down to the pool, willing to do anything to get out of doing it. 

Swimming was relaxing for Keith, most of the time. Sometimes, he would wear himself out by playing, but he was mostly content by swimming laps or just floating on his back.

Ironically, his favorite activity was also how he met his least favorite people in the Blade of Marmora.

Khax and Myx were the two newest recruits that took residence in the headquarters. The two brothers could always be found together; the only time they weren’t was when one of them was on a mission without the other. Keith hadn’t had a chance to formally meet the two until he encountered them in the pool a week after their arrival. 

Keith, like he usually did in the late afternoons, was swimming before he went to have dinner. He perked up when he saw the two new blades enter the pool area. As they came closer, he offered his hand for them to shake.

“Hi, I’m Keith, I don’t think we’ve met yet.” He said. Khax glanced at him curiously.

“Keith is not a very Galran name, yet you look Galra.” He said. Keith shrugged.

“My mom is a Galra, my dad was a human. Keith is a pretty common name where I lived on Earth.” Keith explained, smiling. Myx smiled and shook Keith’s hand.

“I am Myx. My brother is Khax, do not mind him. He is still a little… uneasy, about this organization. You understand, right?” He said.

“Of course I understand. I was pretty uneasy too. But, everyone here is really nice, trust me.” Keith said. Myx nodded and wandered off with Khax. Keith didn’t mind, though; not everyone wanted to hold a conversation all the time. 

-

Keith’s daily training was a lot shorter in time compared to most of the other blades, entirely due to the fact that he was a kit, as his pack insisted that he take the afternoons to nap and play fight and just generally be a kit. Though, anyone who knew Keith knew that, if given the chance, Keith would spend all day in the training room. But, with Antok as one of his pack members, it was impossible. Antok was in charge of the training rooms and would always know if Keith was in any of them (Keith suspected that he had informants in the training rooms to let him know that Keith was in the training room when he shouldn’t be.) So, as he always did, he moved to leave for his pack’s nest after lunch, only to be stopped by Khax and Myx.

“Where are you going? You need to train, Antok said to train.” Khax said. Keith paused, having to remember that the pair didn’t know he was a kit.

“Oh, I was going to go take a nap.” Keith explained, as if that would make sense. In his defense, though, it made sense to any other blades who encountered him in the hallway. Myx frowned and narrowed his eyes at Keith.

“Antok said to train, not to nap. Get your blade and come on.” Myx said. Keith tilted his head, unused to that response.

“Oh, um, I’m a kit. So I have to nap, I guess?” Keith said. Myx snorted in amusement and shook his head, rolling his eyes as he glanced at Khax.

“Sure, you are. Come on. Let’s go train.” Myx insisted, grabbing onto Keith’s arm and pulling him into the nearest training room. Every blade that had already entered looked surprised, some even slightly irritated, at Keith’s entrance, since they all knew Keith wasn’t allowed in the training rooms in the afternoons unless he was napping in the same room Antok was in.

Keith looked equally as confused as everyone around him, pausing as Khax and Myx pulled him over to an empty sparring mat. Although Keith wanted to rest, he was too stubborn to back down from a sparring match unless he was forced to. Though, he instantly regretted it when he saw that the two brothers were working as a team. Khax, who was much taller was stronger than Keith and Myx, who, although shorter and less muscular than his brother, could still easily harm Keith if he wanted to. Keith, although he had the bravery and courage of someone Antok’s size, was definitely never evenly matched with a Galra. Though, he put up a fight for as long as he possibly could in any situation. 

So, despite only wanting to go nap in his nest with Regris and Acxa, Keith poised himself to begin a sparring match, swallowing down a yawn. 

Myx made the first move, lunging towards Keith as his blade shifted to its awakened form. He swung at Keith, who jumped out of the way just before the blade hit his side. Keith looked down at Myx’s awakened blade, feeling instant terror when he saw the sword-axe hybrid. It looked like a sword for the most part, but one side of the end of the blade jutted out into an axe shape. 

Keith made a mental note to never get on Myx’s bad side.

Keith shifted his blade to it’s awakened form, the familiar weight of the long blade a comforting feeling in his hand. He moved towards Myx, poised to be able to block if Myx tried to attack as he lunged for the bigger Galra, swinging his blade. He managed to graze Myx’s hip, not doing much more damage than a papercut would.

Myx growled at the fact that Keith had managed to hit him.

“If you really were a kit, you wouldn’t be able to fight like this.” He hissed, slashing blindly for a second. Keith gasped in fright at the uncoordinated movements that were clearly aimed to harm. He glanced at the other blades in the room, who all looked poised to take Keith to his pack the moment he said the word.

“I was raised on Earth. Humans mature much faster than Galra.” Keith explained. Myx didn’t seem to listen, grinning at Keith. Keith lunged forward and didn’t have any chance to swing his blade before Myx’s tail easily knocked Keith onto the ground. 

“Yield, Keith.” He said. “I do not think you want to face Khax.” Myx said, giving Keith a chance to get up.

Keith sighed tiredly as he dodged swing after swing from Myx. He didn’t want to accidentally cause an injury, so he was hesitant to use his blade. But, he couldn’t do anything but defend himself if he didn’t want to hurt Myx.

-

“Is Keith going to come nap any time soon or not?” Acxa asked impatiently. Regris shrugged a bit, lounging against his pillows.

“I’m sure he’s just with Thace or something. Right, Krolia?” He said, glancing at Krolia. Krolia smiled gently and nodded, pulling out her datapad.

“We can message Thace and see if he’s there. If not, we can see if anyone else has him. He’s been getting better at making sure he sees to his needs and takes a nap.” Krolia said, typing out the message on her datapad and sending it to Thace. Acxa sighed in worry and draped herself against Krolia’s side.

“I’m worried about him. I mean, what if he’s in trouble? He always tells us if he’s going to nap somewhere else so he doesn’t worry us.” She pointed out. Krolia nodded in acknowledgement, deep in thought.

“He may have just forgot. It happens to the best of us, my kit. I am confident that he’s fine.” Krolia said. She held the two kits close, lounging with them as the two dropped off to sleep.

-

Thace glanced at his datapad when he saw he had a message from Krolia, frowning when he saw that it asked if he had Keith in his office. It was a good question at that time of day when they didn’t know where Keith was; it was his favorite place to nap besides the nest. Antok was always in the training room, so it was hard to sleep when the clashing of blades and yelling were constant sounds. Kolivan’s office had a steady stream of sound as well, be it other bases or blades video calling, blades coming in for meetings, or any other things that needed the attention of the leader. Ulaz, try as he might to keep the medical bay as quiet as possible, just couldn’t quiet down the normal clacking of equipment or the voices of injured blades and their pack. 

Though, the problem was, he hadn’t seen Keith at all since he had woken the kit up that morning. He had the most flexible schedule out of the pack, often waking at the same time as the kits and having breakfast with them. Ulaz had to wake up early to go the medical bay, so he was often awake before the lights brightened to signify day. Kolivan woke up around the time the lights brightened, needing to be in his office early for meetings and video calls. Antok woke next, arriving to the training rooms before anyone else so that he could make sure everything was set out, from training mats to first aid kits.

Krolia was barred from going on missions, as was the standard for blades that had been on longer-term missions, so she often spent the afternoons with the kits.

Thace sent the same question about Keith to the three other pack members, biting his lip in worry.

-

Kolivan felt his brow furrow in worry when he saw the message from Thace. He hadn’t seen Keith since that morning either, when the kit had still been asleep. It had been a struggle to get up that morning, since Keith had clung on to his hair during the night, his grip surprisingly tight. Kolivan hadn’t wanted to pull away, but he forced himself to because he knew he had important meetings that morning. 

Keith could sometimes be found dozing in Kolivan’s office, a rare sight for anyone to see. Many of the long-time blades knew that Kolivan was a complete softie towards any kit, having seen him be at his gentlest with kits he encountered on planets. It was no surprise to anyone that he had taken in and unofficially adopted Keith the moment he found out he was a kit and didn’t have a pack. 

It concerned Kolivan to hear that no one knew where Keith was. Usually, Keith made sure to let them know where he was so that they wouldn’t worry about him. To hear that he wasn’t in the nest and that Krolia didn’t know where he was was worrying. 

-

Ulaz sighed softly when he saw the message from Thace. He had seen Keith earlier that morning after he had hurt his leg during training, though all that was needed was a short rest and a promise that Keith would take it easy during the rest of training. 

Keith sometimes came to rest in the medical bay, though he was a still wary of it. Ulaz couldn’t blame him, from what he had heard, hospitals on Earth didn’t have a warm, welcoming atmosphere most of the time. Of course Keith would be a bit wary of the medical bay. Though, he was growing used to it over time, considering that he was in there often.

It also helped that Ulaz was the only one who ever examined or treated Keith. Ulaz was the only one who had any knowledge of human physiology, having been the main “doctor” who worked on Shiro. He never enjoyed being a doctor for the empire, though; all they had done was hurt rather than help. As a result, though, he was the only one who knew how to take care of Keith properly. Plus, he was one of Keith’s pack members, someone that he already felt at ease around. Although all of the doctors in the medical bay were gentle and kind in personality, Keith would most likely be wary about any of them examining him. 

Ulaz just hoped Keith was okay.

-

Antok made a worried sound when he saw Thace’s message. He had eaten lunch with Keith just about a half an hour earlier. He had, however, been under the impression that Keith had been heading to the nest to nap. In fact, that was what Keith had said his plans were, so why wasn’t he there?

It had taken Antok a long while to get Keith out of the habit of training himself until he collapsed. Keith was extremely stubborn, and had attempted to find ways to train without Antok knowing. It hadn’t worked due to the fact that the regulars in the training rooms were extremely fond of Keith and would always tell Antok if Keith was in the training rooms in the afternoons if he was resisting urging to go relax.

“Antok!” The large Galra turned when he heard the urgent shout of his name, his ears flicking in confusion. He smiled when he saw Bylnat, a mild-mannered blade who was in charge of the second-largest training room. Antok was in charge of the largest just because he was in charge of training recruits and running the trials for potential new recruits.

“Good afternoon, Bylnat. What brings you here?” Antok asked pleasantly. 

“Not something good, Antok, unfortunately. Your kit, Keith, is in my training room. The two new recruits, Khax and Myx, have challenged Keith to a sparring match. They do not believe that Keith is a kit. And, well, you know how stubborn Keith can be, he isn’t backing down. He’s completely backed into a corner of the mat, and he seems distressed.” Bylnat said. Antok frowned and followed the other to the training room he oversaw. 

-

Keith felt arms wrap around his middle and tighten to a painful point. Looking over, he saw Khax lifting him, having completely forgotten that the other had even been there in his preoccupation with Myx. Keith squirmed and pulled free, finding himself cornered by the larger two. To step off of a mat was to yield, which Keith wasn’t willing to do, but he had no idea how to proceed. Myx was ready to swing his blade whenever Keith moved into the range to be hit, and Keith’s abdomen still ached slightly from Khax’s tight grip on him. 

Keith was tired. He wanted to yield but he couldn’t bring himself to do that, yet he had no idea what to do. He looked over when he heard the door slide open, feeling himself relax already with relief when he saw Antok follow Bylnat through the door.

“What’s going on here? The sparring rules clearly state no activated blades unless used on robotic gladiators.” Antok said. Keith glanced down at his own activated blade sheepishly. Khax and Myx straightened up and turned to Antok.

“Oh, we didn’t know that. We apologize.” Khax said. Antok scoffed and looked at them.

“You did know, I told you the sparring rules just this morning. So, unless you have short term memory loss, I know you remember.” Antok said. “Also, it is an unspoken rule that you should never pressure someone into sparring.” He said. 

“Well, Keith was saying he is a kit. He clearly is not.” Myx said. Antok growled and pulled Keith close, frowning when he heard his kit quietly whimpering.

“He is a kit. Keith does not lie about things like that.” Antok said, his voice a low growl. 

“He is lying! Besides, he has his blade activated as well.” Myx said. Antok laughed lowly and turned to a younger blade who was sparring nearby.

“Can you tell me the circumstances that led to Keith activating his blade?” He asked pleasantly. 

“Well, Myx activated his blade and attempted to strike Keith. Then, keith activated his blade in self-defence.” The blade said. Antok nodded and turned back to the pair.

“Now, you will not turn your activated blade on another blade unless you are involved in a potential new recruit’s trials.” Antok said. “And you will never pressure anybody, especially my kit, into sparring again.” Khax gulped and looked at Keith.

“Y-your kit?” He asked nervously. Antok nodded and pulled Keith into his arms when he felt him leaning heavily against his legs in exhaustion.

“Yes, my kit. And, trust me, my pack will be hearing about this.” Antok said. Everyone, though most weren’t involved in the incident, stiffened. They all knew what that phrase meant.

Kolivan would hear about this incident.

Antok led Keith out of the room and lifted him into his arms when they left. Keith clung on and yawned.

“My leg hurts, ‘Tok.” Keith said. Antok remembered sending Keith down to Ulaz for a hurt leg, and he knew that Keith was supposed to take it easy for the rest of the day.

Antok carried Keith down the medical bay, knowing that Keith was close to falling asleep by the time they walked inside. Ulaz looked up when he saw Antok in his peripheral vision, his eyes widened when he saw Keith.

“What happened?” He asked, directing the larger Galra to lay Keith in a bed. Keith made a sound of annoyance when he was separated from Antok’s warm body, rolling over.

“Can you tell me what’s wrong, Keith?” Ulaz asked gently. He hated waking Keith, but he needed to. Keith opened his eyes fully, though he clearly didn’t want to.

“My leg hurts.” Keith mumbled, offering the same leg that Ulaz had treated earlier in the day.

“I told you to take it easy, Keith. Why didn’t you take my advice?” Ulaz asked, before noticing that Keith was asleep again. He turned to Antok in hopes of getting an explanation.

“He was pulled into a sparring match by the two new recruits since they did not believe that Keith was a kit.” Antok said. Ulaz growled lowly in anger at Khax and Myx, sighing as he woke Keith up long enough to get him to take painkillers.

“Does Kolivan know about this yet?” Ulaz asked. “He will not be happy.” He pointed out. Antok nodded in agreement and sighed, patting Keith’s hair.

“Do you mind if I borrow you datapad to let everyone know I found Keith? I’m afraid I left mine in the training room.” Antok said. Ulaz nodded and handed him his datapad with a smile.

“I’d say he’s good to go back to the nest, as long as he actually takes it easy for the rest of the day.” Ulaz said, rubbing Keith’s back gently as he slept. Antok nodded and smiled as he sent off a message saying that he had Keith, picking Keith up and holding him gently. He laughed when Keith latched on to one of his large ears, snoring lightly. 

As Antok walked through the halls, he rubbed Keith’s back, rumbling and cooing gently to him in hopes of relaxing him. When he same across the door to his nest, he shifted Keith to one arm to pull it open and slip inside. He saw the other two kits perk up when they saw Keith, and Krolia looked visibly relieved. 

“He hasn’t had a chance to nap yet, so I say just let him sleep. It is rare that he actually wants to sleep.” Antok said, laying Keith in his usual spot in the nest and draping a warm blanket over him. Keith rolled over and clung to Krolia, making her smile and chuckle fondly. 

“Is he alright?” She asked, petting Keith’s hair and smiling when she heard him start to purr in his sleep. Antok nodded and hugged Krolia reassuringly.

“He is fine. Just make sure he doesn’t push himself too hard, he injured his leg earlier today. I need to go speak with Kolivan, but I will be back soon.” He said, leaving the room and making his way to his mate’s office. He knocked three times to announce his presence before entering, smiling at his mate. Kolivan looked absolutely exhausted, but that was the usual for the blade leader.

“Hello, Antok. What brings you here?” Kolivan asked, holding his arms out for a hug and purring when Antok complied and wrapped his arms around him.

“It’s about those two new recruits that arrived last week.” Antok said, sitting down in an available chair. Kolivan perked up when he saw Antok sit. Antok never sat down unless it was going to be a longer conversation, so the action obviously worried Kolivan.

“What about them?” Kolivan asked, leaning towards Antok in curiosity. Antok growled lowly and sighed, visibly reigning in his temper before beginning to explain.

“They pressured Keith into sparring. When Keith explained that he was a kit and needed to go relax, they just insisted that he was saying that to get out of sparring. Along with pressuring someone into sparring, Myx activated his blade to pull on Keith. They backed him into a corner before I was alerted to the situation.” Antok said. Kolivan growled lowly.

“Is Keith okay?” Kolivan asked, relaxing when Antok nodded reassuringly. He stood up and stalked to the training room, rage growing the whole time. He would be angry if it was any blade, but he was furious that it had been Keith. He growled when he saw Myx and Khax on a sparring mat, pulling them off with an easy tug on their uniforms.

“How dare you two go off of rules set just this morning? At least give it a week before trying to be defiant.” Kolivan said. Myx stiffened and sighed.

“Sir, in our defence-” He began, only to be cut off by Kolivan.

“No. The bottom line is, you pressured someone into sparring, which is absolutely unacceptable. There could be a full array of illnesses, injuries, or other ailments to prevent one from sparring that you may not be aware of. Even if Keith had been lying about being a kit, the right thing to do would be to approach someone to see if he truly was lying.” Kolivan said. Khax huffed.

“Kolivan, I’m sure no one here knows everyone’s age.” He said. Kolivan sighed softly.

“Maybe not their exact ages, but everyone knows if there is a kit in the base, who it is, and as a result, their needs. Anyone could have informed you if Keith wasn’t a kit, but he is.” Kolivan said, growling.

“Yes, but Keith was stuttering, a sign of lying.” Khax pointed out. Kolivan groaned in frustration.

“Yes, but also a sign of nerves. Keith is from an area where he is an adult, but he is a kit by Galran terms. He is still not used to voicing his kit needs to anyone but his pack.” He said. “Besides that, you pulled an awakened blade on another blade when the sparring rules clearly state that awakened blades should only be used on robot gladiators. It has too much of a risk for serious or permanent injury.” Kolivan said. Myx bit his lip and avoided eye contact.

“Well, Kolivan, you see, Keith pulled his awakened blade as well.” Myx explained. Antok growled loudly and leaned close.

“Don’t you dare insinuate that my kit started all of this. He pulled his blade after you pulled yours and tried to strike, which is acceptable because it is in self defense.” Antok said. Myx and Khax didn’t try to defend themselves, knowing that there was no way to avoid punishment. 

“You are not authorised to be involved in any missions for a month, or any training sessions for a week. If I hear of you repeating this action again, to anyone, you will no longer be a blade.” Kolivan said. He waited until Khax and Myx nodded before leaving with Antok, going back to their nest. Thace and Ulaz had arrived, cooing lightly at Keith as he slept. Antok smiled when he saw Keith’s tail lazily thumping on the blankets of the nest, still deep in sleep.

And, well, after his long day, he absolutely deserved to rest.

**Author's Note:**

> Check out my tumblr legendary-marmorans !


End file.
